10,000 flock to new Lai Yuen amusement park at Hong Kong's harbourfront

Around 10,000 people streamed into the new Lai Yuen amusement park in the first three hours after its doors were thrown open to the public at 6pm last night.

Fun-seekers had queued patiently by the Central harbourfront to get their first taste of the attraction - a reincarnation of the Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park that shut down in 1997.

And the new park, recreated by Duncan Chiu, youngest son of the late owner, Deacon Chiu Te-ken, rekindled nostalgic memories of Hong Kong in another era.

One of the first visitors, May Po, 52, said: "I grew up with the old park. I was there countless times." But although she was looking forward to the park's games and rides, she feared that with people having more access to technology these days, attractions such as the haunted house might lose some of their magic.

"As soon as someone captures the experience with a cellphone, there won't be any sense of mystery any more," she said.

A plastic dinosaur, a moving robotic replica of a Burmese elephant, dodgems and other carnival games now stand in front of Central skyscrapers, next to the Ferris wheel.

Chiu, chairman of the company behind the new park, said it would not even try to compete with people's memories.